1 Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for helping to protect an occupant of a vehicle and, more particularly, determining whether a driver of the vehicle is fit to operate the vehicle.
2 Description of Related Art
There is a continuing increase in the density of vehicles traveling the world""s roadways. This increase raises the probability of vehicles colliding with objects. Simultaneously, a need to improve the safety of vehicle operations, as it currently stands, by reducing the occurrences of vehicles colliding with stationary and moving objects (such as roadside obstacles and other vehicles) is present. One means for reconciling these competing factors includes monitoring the relative speed, direction of travel, and distance between vehicles sharing the roadway, and to use such information to provide direct indications to the driver of the vehicle of potential danger. It is known for automotive engineers to use microwave radar systems as a means to monitor and warn drivers of such environmental conditions.
Another means for reconciling these factors is to evaluate a driver""s operational performance over time to determine if the driver has lost the capability of operating the vehicle safely. Whenever a driver is responsible for operating a motor vehicle, it is critical that the driver be capable of demonstrating basic cognitive and motor skills at a level that will assure the safe operation of the vehicle. A number of conditions can impair a driver""s ability to perform the basic cognitive and motor skills that are necessary for the safe operation of a motor vehicle. For example, consumption of alcohol or narcotic drugs, or lack of sleep, can make it impossible for a driver to react appropriately to a potentially hazardous situation with sufficient speed and skill to avoid danger to the driver, the vehicle, other people (i.e., passengers, pedestrians, etc.), other vehicles and their occupants, and property that might be in a potential zone of danger at any given time. Therefore, it is very important to continuously evaluate a driver""s ability to identify hazardous conditions and react to those conditions while operating a motor vehicle.
A number of electronic devices are known that record data on various aspects of vehicle performance and/or environment information. These devices primarily function as trip recorders, storing information such as trip distance, trip time, miles per gallon consumed, and average speed.
It would be desirable to have an apparatus and method which utilizes the information that is gathered by a radar system and other sensors, and the information that has been recorded during past trips and/or a present trip, to evaluate not only a driver""s operational performance, but also the driver""s health condition (i.e., breathing, heart rate, etc.), in real-time and under actual conditions. It would also be desirable for such an apparatus and method to predict when a driver is near the point of being unfit, whether it be because of a medical condition or other reason, to safely operate a vehicle and determine exactly when the driver is actually unfit to safely operate a vehicle. Thus, a conclusion that a driver""s health condition and/or operational performance is unacceptable may be communicated to a remote person, the driver, and/or the vehicle itself in order that one or all of these take appropriate action to mitigate or correct the potential or actual danger of this situation.
In accordance with the present invention, an apparatus helps protect an occupant of a vehicle. The apparatus includes first means for non-intrusively sensing at least one health condition of the vehicle occupant and for producing a first output signal indicative of the health condition of the vehicle occupant. The apparatus further includes first means for transmitting a health condition signal derived from the first output signal to a person at a location remote from the vehicle to convey health condition information to the person and to enable the person to determine a suitable type of response.